Ant Group rules out foray into cryptocurrencies, embraces tokenisation economy

“Ant Group will not issue cryptocurrencies, nor participate in any form of the hype,” CEO Cyril Han Xinyi said during the Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai on Thursday.

“Ant is focused on building technological infrastructure to serve industries rather than disrupt them,” Han said at a forum on the tokenisation economy, or tokenomics – a system in which real or digital assets are converted into blockchain-based tokens to facilitate easier ownership, transfer and value exchange.

In spite of Hong Kong’s efforts to establish itself as a global virtual asset hub, the Chinese government continues to enforce a stringent crackdown on cryptocurrency-related activities, such as bitcoin mining and centralised cryptocurrency trading, on the mainland.

Han stressed that a tokenisation economy must be “deeply rooted” in the real economy to unlock its full potential, and that exploration of the technology must be coupled with risk management and regulatory compliance.